Abstract: The records include meeting minutes, correspondence, materials relating to the White Night riot at San Francisco’s City Hall
(protesting the conviction of Dan White on two charges of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of Harvey Milk and George Moscone)
and flyers about Propositions 6 and 7.

Language of Material: English

Access

Collection is open for research.
Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

The Stonewall organization (originally the Stonewall Contingent) came into being shortly after the White Night riot at San
Francisco’s City Hall (protesting the conviction of Dan White on two charges of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of Harvey
Milk and George Moscone). The contingent first appeared at a protest at the regular meeting of the city’s Police Commission,
where discussion of the riot was not a scheduled item on the agenda. The group called for dropping the investigation (and
all charges filed as a result of it) in the White Night riot. The group’s philosophical focus wove together the oppression
of women, ethnic minorities, and the working class with their drive to protelarger progressive movement. Stonewall opposed
the passage of the California state senator John Briggs’ Proposition 6 (which would have required the investigation and dismissal
of gay and gay-friendly teachers) and Proposition 7 (the extension of judges’ power in applying the death penalty).

Scope and Content of Collection

Stonewall was a socialist organization of lesbians and gay men that formed directly after the White Night riot in response
to the Dan White verdict in May 1979. The collection contains the minutes of the coalition's meetings in the fall and winter
of 1979 and the spring of 1980, along with various organizational records and correspondence; statements of the group’s philosophical
stances on issues of class, race, gender and the struggles of third world peoples; materials regarding the Lavender Left Network;
flyers for the 1979 Gay Freedom Day March and other leftist political actions; flyers and other materials regarding Propositions
6 (the Briggs Initiative) and 7 (death penalty); materials regarding the White Night riot, including press clippings on the
riot probe, the Stonewall Coalition’s demands, and their subsequent attempt to warn and educate those involved in the riot
and the Elephant Walk bar brutality case about the dangers of talking to the authorities without legal advice.